Auderville La Haye battery

German batteries of the Atlantic Wall in Normandy

The Auderville La Haye battery is located west of Cherbourg, facing Cape Hague.

Composition of the Auderville battery

This battery includes two platforms and a railway line that can accommodate the 203 mm pieces installed by the Germans on railway. These guns are put in battery at the firing platforms.

It is also made up of several other buildings, including personal shelters, ammunition bunkers and an anti-aircraft gun site.

The whole site is surrounded by a large network of barbed wire and positions of machine guns defend the accesses.

Auderville battery during the battle of Normandy

The Allies have regularly bombarded this battery since April 1944, like all the constructions of the Atlantic Wall.

When the Americans from Utah Beach advance towards Cherbourg, they are caught under fire from the German batteries at Valognes. The two 203 mm guns of Auderville, whose maximum reach reaches 38 kilometers, also come into action.

On 25 June they opened fire on the Allied fleet cruising in front of Cherbourg and an impressive artillery duel took place until three o’clock, forcing the American warships to make their way out of the reach of the German guns.

The Americans finally seized the battery of Auderville by land, after massive aerial bombardments.